Improvement in sewing-machines



2 Sheets-Sheet I H. H. GOODWYN.

. Sewing Machine. No. 24,455. Patented June 21, 1359.

- 2 Sheets-Sheet -2. H. H. GOODWYN.

Sewing Machine. No. 24,455. I Patehted June 21, 1859 Wain/e6 c5 u.rnzns, Photo-Lithography, Wnshinglan, n. c,

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

H. H. G-OODWVYN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 24,455, dated June 521,1859.

To aZZ-whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, H. H. GoonWYN, of New Orleans, in-the parish ofOrleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Tension Arrangement of Sewing-Machines; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1represents a side view of a \Vheeler iqWilson sewing-machine having myimprovement applied to it. Fig. 2 is a rear end view thereof; and Figs.3, 4, 5, and 6 are views of certain details detached, as hereinafter referred to. a

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figures indicatecorresponding parts:

. To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The sewing-machine to which my improvement is here shown applied beingwell known and understood, no minute description of its general actionand arrangement of parts is necessary in this specification; but I shallat once refer to those parts or features on which my improvement isbased.

In those tension arrangements to the needlethread in which the tensionis applied to the spool direct to control the runof the threadtherefrom, various appliances have been used to exert a firm butyielding pressure 011 the spool. Thus the spindle of the spool has beenprovided with a cone or cones to produce friction in the eye of thespool, or against a fixed eye by a spring or springs acting in-uniso11to govern the run of the spool, with means of I adjustment to regulatethe degree of frictional. pressure, and with adjusting arrangements,

including adjustable spool-standards, to adapt the tension device andspool-carrier to different lengths vof spools. It is to this class oftension arrangements that the first part of my improvement relates.

- A, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, is the spool-spindle, having a fixed cone, (1,entering the eye of the spool at one end, and formed with a pivotpoint,I), to run in a female center in a stand-.

ard, B.

O is the spool. I D is a double conical sleeve moving freely upon thespindle, with its inner end that enters the eye of the spool fluted" toprevent it from turning in the spool. The other end of this doubleconical sleeve is made smooth and or center for the spool-spindle toproject and play 7 through unconstrained.

The standard B, at the opposite end of the spindle, is hung-on afulcrum, e, below, and

jointed to said standard is a rod, f, which,

passing through a support, 9, has ascrewthread on its endron which isscrewed a nut or rosette, h, that has arranged between it and thesupport 9 a spring, t, wound around the rod. This spring 15 acts to drawthe rocking standard B toward the spool, and so to induce friction orpressure of thesmooth end of the double conical sleeve D on thesoft-leather pad or ring 0, and induce a corresponding friction or gripon the spool to restrain it from too freely turning, the force of whichmay be regulated at pleasure by turning to the right or to the left therosette h,- but the arrangement is such that it is not necessary, or butseldom so, to turn this nut or rosette h to adjustthe rocking or pivotedstandard B to suit different lengths of spools which vary with the gradeof thread used, or when taking out the spool or fitting in another, asthe standard B acts automatically in this respect, being free to rock toor from the spool by reason of the rod f,

which carries the spring and screw-nut or rosette, being free toslide'through its support 9; nor,'excepting Where a great change oftension is required, need the rosette h be turned 01' the tension in theleast be altered, which is an object to be considered in using orrenewing spools of the same length and having the same grade of thread.When inserting a spool of coarser or finer grade of thread, and, as acon sequence, of different length, the coarser thread being on thelonger spool, and vice versa, the spool itself in many cases regulatesthe tension automatically by its varying. length, causing the rockingstandard B to exert a thrust or pull on the spring commensurate with thein the leather pad or ring 0, gives a soft and easy action in concertwith a spring force applied to the spool, and I find by practiceproduces a character of friction. which does away withthosej erks thatare incidental to hard bear ings having a delicate spring-pressureapplied to or against them, and by my improvement I get a greateruniformity of tension generally, with perfect freedom from slip, thesoft yielding nature of the elastic ring a, acting in concert with thespring force, as described, insuring a greater adaptability of therubbingcone to varying circumstances, and producing a uniformity andevenness in the tension, so that when once adjusted it is not necessaryto readjust the tension more than once, if at all, in finishiugorworking up the whole thread on the spool, which, as it reduces indiameter, it is usual in other tension devices acting directly upon thespool to frequently vary the friction or pressure which is thrown on itand which controls the run of the spool. The leather bearing 0, too,serves to prevent breaking of the thread, and in starting the spool, butlittle, if any, more power is required to overcome the frictionalpressure of the conical sleeve on the leather than is necessary to keepit in motion, which is not the case with a metal bearing.

As much in the formation of ,a perfect stitch depends upon the action ofthe tension devices generally, and especially is this true ofdoublethread machines, I shall now proceed to describe the second partof my improvement, which is only applicable to double-threadmachines,and exclusively so to that class known as the YVheeler & Wilson machine,in

which a revolving hook or shuttle is used for operation in connectionwith the concentric threadcase or bobbin'carrying the secondary sary tomake the stitch, it is desirable in the kind of machine I now refer toto provide in an advantageous manner for the tension of the secondarythread. In such machines the rotating hook or shuttle E, revolvingagainst or in an opposite direction to the motion of the under spool orbobbin, F, often acts with too great a strain on the under or secondarythread, which is thereby prevented from being drawn up, so as to form aperfect stitch on the under I side of the cloth, unless a correspondingor increased degree of tension is given to the upper thread, which teststhe strength of the upper thread, so as to endanger its breakage. Thisdifficulty increases in proportion as the thread is unwound from thebobbin. Again, the

loop being drawn up from the under side of the cloth-plate bythe actionof the rotating hook renders the cloth liable, on account of the greatamount of tension required on the upper thread, to be drawn down andbecome wedged fast in the slot of the cloth-plate, which is moreespecially the case when the material being sewed is of a thin andflimsy character. To obviate this last-named difficulty by slackeningthe tension of the upper thread often causes the thread to hang in loopson the under side, thereby producing an imperfect stitch, and to slackenthe tension of the upper thread involves the slackening of the under onein a corresponding ratio, when these difficulties disappear. I thereforeso construct and arrange the tension devices to the under thread as in ageneral way to produce thereon the least possible amount of tension,with facility for increasing it inan advantageous manner to any degreerequired, as follows, reference being had to Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 ofthe drawings. I

G is a metallic shell, havinga fixed shaft, 70, at its center, uponwhicha small cylinder, l, revolves This cylinder fits snugly, but nottightly, in the hole throughthe center of the bobbin F, and has on itsoutside a small spring, z, (see Fig. 6, where the cylinder detached isshown on an enlarged scale,) to hold the bobbin securely in its place,as well as to cause the cylinder and bobbin to revolve together. Withinthe cylinder Z is a spring, m, pressing at its one end against, a nut,n, on the outer end of the fixed shaft k, and acting at itsother end onthe back end or shoulder of the cylinder, which it forces against asmall leather ring or disk, 0, interposed between the cylinderl andshell G, to create a slight friction, the object of which is to preventthe bobbin F from being impelled by the drawing up of the under threadfarther than it is necessary to allow a sufficient quantity of thread toform the under stitch. An elbow, p, is fixed upon the outer rim of theshell G; This elbow serves the double purpose of regulating the tensionof the under thread and of preventing the shell G, as will be presentlyexplained, from being carried round by the action of the rotating hook.The shell G rests in the cavity of the rotating hook E of said Wheeler8n Wilson machine, in the same manner as the bobbin now in ordinaryusedoes, the side of the shell to which the elbow is attached beingoutward, and said elbow being arranged to project from the edge of theshell enough to allow it to rest well in the cavity of the hook. Anadjustable guide-ring, H, as at present in use, serves t6 keep thevshell G in position, care, however, being taken to make said ring ofsuificiently large interior diameter, so that though closely fittinground it will nottouch the bobbin F, and a portion of the face of saidringsay one-fourth of its ClIOllDlfBlF ence-I cut away or recess deepenough to allow the elbow p to play freely without touching the ring,except at the shoulders or ends of said recess. The shell G is preventedfrom revolving by the elbow p resting against the upper shoulder formedby said recess in the face of the ring.

The thread is wound upon the bobbin F in the ordinary way. The end ofthe thread is then passed through a small eye, a", in the shell Thenplace the bobbin upon its cylinder Z andpress it homethat is, till itreaches the back projecting rim or end of the cylinder-and fit the wholein its place in the cavity of the rotating hook E, and now will' beapparent an important difference between this arrangement and otherspring-held or tension bobbins or-thread-cases, some of which have beesituated within a box or shell.

The tension given by the spring-pressure on the bobbin is here, asbefore specified, made as light as possible. This tension is of a fixedcharacter and never needs lessening, but only increasing as occasion mayrequire. To increase the tension turn and pass the end of the threadthrough a small eye, 8, at the upper point of the elbow p,- and to.obtain any further amount of tension from the slightest increase upwithdraw the thread from the eye 8 in the elbow and pass it half-wayonce, twice, thrice, or oftener, according to the amount of tensionrequired, round the left-hand side or one branch of the elbow p andrethread through the eye 8 of said elbow. Those acquainted with previousmodes of regulating the tension of the needle-thread by twisting thethread round a suitable rod will readily perceive how the tension isincreased by thus applying the secondary thread to the elbow of theshell, and that an advantage is derived, felt in drawing on the threadby twisting the thread round the left-hand or inclined branch of theelbow, which elbow also serves, as described, as a stop to the shell toprevent it rotating.

I would remark, in conclusion, that in the throw of the loop of theupper thread round the shell G- and bobbin F. by the revolving hook Esaid upper thread cannot, by reason of the protection afforded by thecase, pass into the bobbin, instead of on the outside, as now sometimeshappens when the slide-ring H is not nicely adjusted to suit the sizeofthe thread being used; and by the present arrangement a less frequentadjustment of the slide-ring to change in the degree of tension to theunder.

thread from the timethe bobbin is filled till it becomes empty; nor isit necessary to hold the under thread or make it fast in any way when 3commencing a'seam; and a perfect stitch is formed on both sides of thematerial with less tension upon the upper thread; liability to breakageor chafing of the thread is reduced, and a perfect regularity oftensionto both threads easily attainable, so as to secure perfectstitches on both sides of the cloth without pulling the latter down,however flimsy its character, into the slot of the cloth-plate.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of the loosely-fitted double conical sleeve D withthe soft leather or elastic backed and bound bearing-eye c, and aspring-pressure whereby the spool is brought to a proper center and therequisite tension produced, the cone-sleeve revolving simultaneouslywith the spool and pivoted arm, and the friction or tensionbeingobtained by the action of the outer end of the double cone againstthe elastic eye, in the manner and for the purpose hereindescribed.

2. The arrangement, with the above, of the peculiar spring-pressureherein described, consisting of the pivoted or rocking standard 13, rodf, spring "6, and rosette or nut 71, for opera tion together and withthe spool, in the man ner herein described.

3. The attachment to the stationary shell or same is combined with aspring, m, inducing friction in the run of the bobbin and operating inconnection with a tension arm or elbow, p, acting on the thread from thebobbin, as de scribed.

H. GOODXVYN.

XVitnesses:

LUTHER Hon/ins, J. BAUMILLER.

